With the increase of functional devices, demand for cross-sectional evaluation or fine processing of organic substances such as biological materials and plastics is increasing. Methods for making cross sections of organic materials in order to obtain structural information include cutting with a knife, resin embedding, freeze-embedding, freeze-fracture and ion etching. Usually, for internal structure observation of an organic matter by optical microscopy, the sample is embedded in a resin and sliced with a microtome.
However, the optical microscope allows only macroscopic observation of the cross section and the cut-out position cannot be designated in this method, so that it requires an enormous amount of repeating work of preparing cross sections in order to observe and analyze the structure at a desired position.
Recently, focused ion beam (FIB) techniques that can process a predetermined site have been developed, where a finely focused ion beam from an ion source irradiates a sample for processing it by etching etc. Such FIB etching has become considerably popular, and utilized widely for structural analysis or failure analysis of semiconductors or the like, and for sample preparation of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) etc.
Recently, several methods have been proposed to cut out a portion of a sample and process it applying manipulation techniques to FIB techniques. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H05-52721 proposes a method of cutting out a part of a sample by FIB and the cut out minute sample is held on a probe, which facilitates isolation of only the necessary portion for analysis.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-345360 proposes a method of cutting out a minute specimen by using an ion beam and then bombarding it with another ion beam to reduce the influence of the element of the first ion beam employed for cutting out.
However, when the sample is a material of which state and shape will change with temperature such as an organic substance, it is difficult to prepare a minute specimen of a desired shape using such a probe since the temperature of such a probe often becomes higher than that of the sample resulting in heating of the contacted part of the sample.
Thus, the present invention is to provide an apparatus for conveying a sample for observation without heat-denaturation.
The present invention is also to provide an apparatus suitable for obtaining a necessary minute piece from a sample.
The present invention is also to provide a sample processing apparatus capable of efficiently processing a necessary minute piece from a sample under temperature control of the sample.
Furthermore, the present invention is to provide a sample evaluating apparatus and a sample evaluating method for analysis of a cross section structure under temperature control of the sample.
Furthermore, the present invention is to provide a sample-conveying apparatus capable of conveying a sample for electron microscopic observation under temperature control of the sample.